The Czech nationals at Darjeeling police station on Monday. Picture by Suman Tamang

Darjeeling, June 23: The chief judicial magistrate court here today denied bail to two Czech nationals who were picked up by the forest officers from the Singalila National Park for allegedly collecting beetles, butterflies and moths.

Petr Svacha and Emil Kuchera, bearing passport numbers 35932132 and 35667512 respectively, were interrogated by the forest guards in Darjeeling today.

An officer who quizzed the duo said Petr was a morphologist, while Emil was a forester in Czech Republic. The arrested said they had collected the insects for research as well as for their personal collections.

The foreigners told the interrogators that they were unaware that collecting insects were illegal in India.

Petr and Emil were caught with over 200 beetles and an equal number of other insects in the Srikhola-Rimbick area, about 90km from Darjeeling, yesterday.

The forest department has registered a case under Section 29 of the Wildlife Protection Act-1972. According to the Act, individuals are barred from collecting insects in large number in protected areas.

It is not clear whether the foreigners had caught the insects solely for research or for trade. They are in great demand in museums across the world.

The tiger beetle, which is used for medicines in China, Japan and Latin American countries, could fetch between Rs 6,000 and Rs 7,000 in foreign markets.

The duo are under police custody now. The case will be taken up for next hearing after 14 days.